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Topic: Ukraine Beeks (Read 9895 times)

Hi - I'm a born again beek after 20years dormant, I live in Ukraine, born in Australia ninth generation, family immigrated from England to Australia in the 1860's from Somerset in England. Family history shows they grew cider apples and kept bees to produce honey for mead making. I'm interested in making contact with other beeks in Ukraine who can talk a little English because my Russian is not all that good. Ukraine beekeeping industry employs over half million Ukrainians, both professional beekeepers and hobbyists and the average annual honey output near 75,000 metric tons. Therefore, Ukraine is the fifth-ranked country in the world in terms of the honey production output after China, India, Argentina, and the USA. Traveling around Ukraine you quickly learn Ukraine people are passionate about two things their vodka and their honey. Beekeeping in Ukraine is different in many ways, husbandry, bee breeds and honey styles are unique to this part of the world. However, the Ukraine people are still mostly information hoarders and gate keepers a legacy from their long soviet past. So thanks for the site and I hope to make contact with others interested in sharing their beek experience and knowledge.

I am no longer in Ukraine myself (lived there for 32 months--mostly in Zaporozhye in early 2000s). I loved living in Ukraine--my friends, the food, strangers on the trains and in the street, the nice warm summers and nice cold winters. I did not start keeping bees until several years after I left Ukraine, but I do remember visiting a museum (near Kyiv I think) where they had a small selection of old beehives made of sections of hollow tree trunks. They really made an impression on me. I also remember that I had my first taste of creamed honey in Ukraine. As a matter of fact, most honey I ate in Ukraine was different creamed honeys. I am kind of sad today that I was not into beekeeping while I was in Ukraine, I would have searched out a beekeeper to help out while learning the Ukrainian ways of keeping bees. I have found some really interesting videos on Youtube of mostly Russian beekeepers explaining some of the things they do in the apiary and how to harvest things like bee bread (ambrosia). In these videos, I see some really cool hives that are larger than what we use in the USA (maybe they have 11 or 12 frames instead of our 10 frames). These hives have a different hive base than what we use as well as having a sort of lip or something on the top edge of each box so that it fits into the bottom of the box (or lid) you put on top. They also use a sort of pillow above the top of the frames to absorb moisture (I think). I have not been able to find plans for this type of hive, so I don't really know where to begin to try to make one (I am not a woodworker so I can't just figure it out by looking at what they show on the videos so I would need a set of drawings to work from). Anyhow, if I had been into beekeeping when I lived in Ukraine, then maybe I would have learned directly how to make this type of hive from a master beekeeper who used that kind of hive. Anyhow, maybe the next time I work in Ukraine :). I actually don't do the same work as I did back then, so I don't know that I would have the opportunity to move back to Ukraine now-a-days. I doubt that they need an American transit planner--they do transit in Ukraine 100 times better than we do it in the USA. Maybe a beekeeper exchange program? That would be cool! Spend a year in a different country to learn from the different ways they work with bees and harvest hive products! Anyhow, I am excited to see this post on Ukrainian beekeeping, and I look forward to learning more about Ukrainian techniques in beekeeping.

I am no longer in Ukraine myself (lived there for 32 months--mostly in Zaporozhye in early 2000s). I loved living in Ukraine--my friends, the food, strangers on the trains and in the street, the nice warm summers and nice cold winters. I did not start keeping bees until several years after I left Ukraine, but I do remember visiting a museum (near Kyiv I think) where they had a small selection of old beehives made of sections of hollow tree trunks. They really made an impression on me. I also remember that I had my first taste of creamed honey in Ukraine. As a matter of fact, most honey I ate in Ukraine was different creamed honeys. I am kind of sad today that I was not into beekeeping while I was in Ukraine, I would have searched out a beekeeper to help out while learning the Ukrainian ways of keeping bees. I have found some really interesting videos on Youtube of mostly Russian beekeepers explaining some of the things they do in the apiary and how to harvest things like bee bread (ambrosia). In these videos, I see some really cool hives that are larger than what we use in the USA (maybe they have 11 or 12 frames instead of our 10 frames). These hives have a different hive base than what we use as well as having a sort of lip or something on the top edge of each box so that it fits into the bottom of the box (or lid) you put on top. They also use a sort of pillow above the top of the frames to absorb moisture (I think). I have not been able to find plans for this type of hive, so I don't really know where to begin to try to make one (I am not a woodworker so I can't just figure it out by looking at what they show on the videos so I would need a set of drawings to work from). Anyhow, if I had been into beekeeping when I lived in Ukraine, then maybe I would have learned directly how to make this type of hive from a master beekeeper who used that kind of hive. Anyhow, maybe the next time I work in Ukraine :). I actually don't do the same work as I did back then, so I don't know that I would have the opportunity to move back to Ukraine now-a-days. I doubt that they need an American transit planner--they do transit in Ukraine 100 times better than we do it in the USA. Maybe a beekeeper exchange program? That would be cool! Spend a year in a different country to learn from the different ways they work with bees and harvest hive products! Anyhow, I am excited to see this post on Ukrainian beekeeping, and I look forward to learning more about Ukrainian techniques in beekeeping.

I am no longer in Ukraine myself (lived there for 32 months--mostly in Zaporozhye in early 2000s). I loved living in Ukraine--my friends, the food, strangers on the trains and in the street, the nice warm summers and nice cold winters. I did not start keeping bees until several years after I left Ukraine, but I do remember visiting a museum (near Kyiv I think) where they had a small selection of old beehives made of sections of hollow tree trunks. They really made an impression on me. I also remember that I had my first taste of creamed honey in Ukraine. As a matter of fact, most honey I ate in Ukraine was different creamed honeys. I am kind of sad today that I was not into beekeeping while I was in Ukraine, I would have searched out a beekeeper to help out while learning the Ukrainian ways of keeping bees. I have found some really interesting videos on Youtube of mostly Russian beekeepers explaining some of the things they do in the apiary and how to harvest things like bee bread (ambrosia). In these videos, I see some really cool hives that are larger than what we use in the USA (maybe they have 11 or 12 frames instead of our 10 frames). These hives have a different hive base than what we use as well as having a sort of lip or something on the top edge of each box so that it fits into the bottom of the box (or lid) you put on top. They also use a sort of pillow above the top of the frames to absorb moisture (I think). I have not been able to find plans for this type of hive, so I don't really know where to begin to try to make one (I am not a woodworker so I can't just figure it out by looking at what they show on the videos so I would need a set of drawings to work from). Anyhow, if I had been into beekeeping when I lived in Ukraine, then maybe I would have learned directly how to make this type of hive from a master beekeeper who used that kind of hive. Anyhow, maybe the next time I work in Ukraine :). I actually don't do the same work as I did back then, so I don't know that I would have the opportunity to move back to Ukraine now-a-days. I doubt that they need an American transit planner--they do transit in Ukraine 100 times better than we do it in the USA. Maybe a beekeeper exchange program? That would be cool! Spend a year in a different country to learn from the different ways they work with bees and harvest hive products! Anyhow, I am excited to see this post on Ukrainian beekeeping, and I look forward to learning more about Ukrainian techniques in beekeeping.